Plays on words in English (April 25, 2011) Thread poster: RominaZ
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RominaZ 
Argentina
English to Spanish
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Here's a selection of some plays on words in English and here is the challenge: Can you translate them and keep the effect in the target audience? Try it! It will be fun.
1.- Energizer Bunny arrested, charged with battery.
2.- A pessimist's blood type is always b-negative.
3.- Practice safe eating - always use condiments.
4.- Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
5.- A successful diet is the triumph of mind over platter.
6.- A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumor.
7.- Without geometry, life is pointless.
8.- When you dream in color, it's a pigment of your imagination.
9.- Reading while sunbathing makes you well-red.
10.- A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.
11.- Dijon vu - the same mustard as before.
12.- When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.
13.- A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two-tired..
14.- What's the definition of a will? (Come on, it's a dead giveaway!)
15.- A backwards poet writes inverse.
16.- A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
17.- He often broke into a song because he couldn't find the key.
18.- Every calendar's days are numbered.
19.- He had a photographic memory that was never developed.
20.- The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
21.- Once you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.
22.- Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.
23.- When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.
Source: http://www.alphadictionary.com/fun/pun.html
Please add some wordplays in your language and invite your colleagues to participate as well!
| | | | Manuela Junghans
Germany
Local time: 19:03
Member (2004)
English to German
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| Thanks for sharing, Romina | Apr 25, 2011 |
that site is brilliant
| | | | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 19:03
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
How did you manage to play with "to Morrow" and "tomorrow" in Russian, while pertaining the original storyline and form? Did you find suitable words? Is your translation singable?
A lot of Muppet Show script/humor is based on puns, therefore a great challenge for translators.
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Lingua 5B wrote:
How did you manage to play with "to Morrow" and "tomorrow" in Russian, while pertaining the original storyline and form? Did you find suitable words? Is your translation singable?
Let's consider translation into Russian. The plot is:
A countryman for the first time comes to town to buy a souvenir. He wants to buy a figurine made of wood by a male and female Nepali, which sounds in Russian like neither by stick nor by finger. At least this is how the simple-minded countryman, who has never heard about Nepal, hears it.
Like in the original song, the salesman and the buyer do not understand each other. The countryman goes home with his purchase, he couldn't get the answer to his question "Who made the figurine". Нe says, "OK, I'll say it was brought from afar."
Sorry for muddled explanation.
And yes—both translations are singable.
[Edited at 2011-04-25 20:34 GMT]
| | | | | translations to Serbian & links to puns and word plays in Serbian | Apr 27, 2011 |
I translated just a few into Serbian-others can't have the same effect:
2.- Krvna grupa pesimiste je uvek b-negativna.
7.- Bez geometrije je čovek izgubljenu prostoru.
18.- Dani svakog kalendara su odbrojani.
19.- Imao je fotografsko pamćenje koje nikad nije razvijeno.
- Šta kaze Brus Vilis kad dodje u prodavnicu racunarske opreme? "Daj hard." (literal translation: What does Brus Willis say in a computer shop: "Gime(daj) hard"!
- Gospodar pr�... See more I translated just a few into Serbian-others can't have the same effect:
2.- Krvna grupa pesimiste je uvek b-negativna.
7.- Bez geometrije je čovek izgubljenu prostoru.
18.- Dani svakog kalendara su odbrojani.
19.- Imao je fotografsko pamćenje koje nikad nije razvijeno.
- Šta kaze Brus Vilis kad dodje u prodavnicu racunarske opreme? "Daj hard." (literal translation: What does Brus Willis say in a computer shop: "Gime(daj) hard"!
- Gospodar pršljenova = kiropraktičar
- Giving new batteries to my child whose calculator bateries emptied fast I said: "You can count on these"
- "Time flies." "I can't, they're too fast."
- In the mechanical workshop: a case full of ball bearing balls
Here are links to some sites with wordplays in Serbian
http://www.zikison.net/zikison38_files/zikison38.htm
and international:
http://www.damncoolpictures.com/2010/10/epic-fails-part-6.html
http://www.jnweb.com/funny/translation.html
There are numerous sites like this I'm sure you've already visited) ▲ Collapse
| | | | | translations to Catalan | Apr 27, 2011 |
RominaZ wrote:
This thread is part of the Translator playground: a place for translators to have fun, to network, to learn, and to hone their translation or linguistic skills.
Need a quick break from work? In this forum translators and language professionals can share quotes about translation, tongue twisters and word plays, translation challenges, etc.
All are welcome to participate and to add new items to this and the other areas of the Translator playground; have fun with it! If you need help or would like to propose an addition to the Translator playground, contact site staff through the online support system.
Here's a selection of some plays on words in English and here is the challenge: Can you translate them and keep the effect in the target audience? Try it! It will be fun.
1.- Energizer Bunny arrested, charged with battery.
2.- A pessimist's blood type is always b-negative.
3.- Practice safe eating - always use condiments.
4.- Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
5.- A successful diet is the triumph of mind over platter.
6.- A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumor.
7.- Without geometry, life is pointless.
8.- When you dream in color, it's a pigment of your imagination.
9.- Reading while sunbathing makes you well-red.
10.- A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.
11.- Dijon vu - the same mustard as before.
12.- When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.
13.- A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two-tired..
14.- What's the definition of a will? (Come on, it's a dead giveaway!)
15.- A backwards poet writes inverse.
16.- A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
17.- He often broke into a song because he couldn't find the key.
18.- Every calendar's days are numbered.
19.- He had a photographic memory that was never developed.
20.- The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
21.- Once you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.
22.- Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.
23.- When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.
Source: http://www.alphadictionary.com/fun/pun.html
Please add some wordplays in your language and invite your colleagues to participate as well!
| | | | | translation to Catalan | Apr 27, 2011 |
2. El grup sanguini d'un pessimista sempre és be(n) negatiu.
6. Un xafarder és algú que té molt sentit del rumor.
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 19:03
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
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| I don't think so. | Apr 27, 2011 |
Ljiljana Krstic wrote:
7.- Bez geometrije je čovek izgubljenu prostoru.
This can't be translated either because we can't play with point ( geometrical point) and point( sense, meaning) in our language. It doesn't match.
Perhaps your translation is not incorrect, but the punning is not there.
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2.- A pessimist's blood type is always b-negative.
Krvna grupa pesimiste je uvijek b negativna.
6.- A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumor.
Tračara, to je neko sa mnogo smisla za trač.
7.- Without geometry, life is pointless.
Bez geometrije, život gubi smjernicu.
19.- He had a photographic memory that was never developed.
Imao je fotografsko pamćenje koje nikad nije razvijeno.
| | | | Paul Dixon
Brazil
Local time: 14:03
Portuguese to English
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In memoriam
Most puns are impossible to translate into Portuguese without losing the pun. For example, number 1 "Energizer Bunny arrested, charged with battery" would be impossible to translate keeping the pun, as the two meanings of charged are different in Portuguese (carregado x acusado), as are the two meanings of battery (bateria x agressão). The same goes for most of the others.
The only translatable ones would appear to be 18 and 19:
18. Cada calendário está com seus dias... See more Most puns are impossible to translate into Portuguese without losing the pun. For example, number 1 "Energizer Bunny arrested, charged with battery" would be impossible to translate keeping the pun, as the two meanings of charged are different in Portuguese (carregado x acusado), as are the two meanings of battery (bateria x agressão). The same goes for most of the others.
The only translatable ones would appear to be 18 and 19:
18. Cada calendário está com seus dias contados. (Literally "days counted" and not "numbered" but the meaning is the same)
19. Tinha uma memória fotográfica que nunca foi revelada. (In Portuguese "revelar" is to develop a film as well as to reveal) ▲ Collapse
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I'll give it a try (disclaimer, less than 5 minutes was put into this)
Le groupe sanguin d'un pessimiste est toujours O négatif.
(same as the English except "o" sounds like "au" which mean "in the negative")
Le nom Pavlov vous fait-il réagir?
(Does the name Pavlov make you react)
Un régime réussi dépend de l'assiéttée.
(A successful diet depends on the size of the plate/satiety... quite proud of this one actually)
... See more I'll give it a try (disclaimer, less than 5 minutes was put into this)
Le groupe sanguin d'un pessimiste est toujours O négatif.
(same as the English except "o" sounds like "au" which mean "in the negative")
Le nom Pavlov vous fait-il réagir?
(Does the name Pavlov make you react)
Un régime réussi dépend de l'assiéttée.
(A successful diet depends on the size of the plate/satiety... quite proud of this one actually)
Sans la géométrie, la vie n'a aucun sens.
(Without geometry, like has no direction/meaning.)
Réver en couleurs, c'est un pigment de l'imagination
(exactly the same as the english)
Un poète renversé écrit à l'encre vert.
(un upside down poet writes with green ink/backwards - though I had to leave vert in the masculine form so not perfect). ▲ Collapse
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Jan Willem van Dormolen (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 19:03
English to Dutch
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1.- Energizer Bunny arrested, charged with battery.
De batterij werd ervan beschuldigd de spanning op te voeren.
The battery was accused of creating tension/power
2.- A pessimist's blood type is always b-negative.
De resusfactor van een pessimist is altijd negatief.
Almost the same as the original, but a little less cunning.
4.- Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
Doet de naam Pavlov een belletje rinkelen?
Same as original.
... See more 1.- Energizer Bunny arrested, charged with battery.
De batterij werd ervan beschuldigd de spanning op te voeren.
The battery was accused of creating tension/power
2.- A pessimist's blood type is always b-negative.
De resusfactor van een pessimist is altijd negatief.
Almost the same as the original, but a little less cunning.
4.- Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
Doet de naam Pavlov een belletje rinkelen?
Same as original.
5.- A successful diet is the triumph of mind over platter.
Een geslaagd dieet is de triomf van geest over vlees.
Triumph of spirit over flesh, with a biblical reference.
6.- A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumor.
Ondanks zijn ziekte behield hij zijn gevoel voor tumor.
Despite his illness he kept his sense of tumor.
7.- Without geometry, life is pointless.
Zonder vertalers zou het leven zinloos zijn.
Without translators, life would be without meaning/sentence.
8.- When you dream in color, it's a pigment of your imagination.
Wanneer je droomt over groente, is dat ontsproten aan je verbeelding.
When you dream about vegetables, that 'sprouts' from your imagination.
9.- Reading while sunbathing makes you well-red.
Wie te lang leest in de zon, kan verstand raken.
Who reads in the sun too long, can get intelligent - the word 'verstand' is a bit like 'verbrand', meaning burned.
11.- Dijon vu - the same mustard as before.
Dijon vu, dezelfde mosterd als eerder.
Same as original
15.- A backwards poet writes inverse.
Een schrijver van boerenromans schrijft achter zijn voren.
A writer of pagan novels writes 'behind his furrows', which sounds as 'backwards'.
19.- He had a photographic memory that was never developed.
Hij had een fotografisch geheugen dat helaas niet was ontwikkeld.
Same as original.
21.- Once you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.
Heb je één restaurant gezien, dan ken je ze alle maal.
Once you've seen one restaurant, you've seen 'all meals', which sounds like 'them all'.
Not all very funny, not all very literal, but it's an effort... ▲ Collapse
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Ljiljana Krstic wrote:
I translated just a few into Serbian-others can't have the same effect:
2.- Krvna grupa pesimiste je uvek b-negativna.
Cannot really be translated. Any way you look at it, you cannot incorporate "b"; i.e. b-negative is in fact "budi negativan".
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